by Kendra

July 21, 2015July 27, 2015

The Glitz Takes on NYC

Ever since I was a little glitz, I have been infatuated with New York City. I wish I could pinpoint exactly why or give you a profound meaning behind the infatuation, but I can’t. There is just something about that city that stole my heart a long time ago and this past weekend I was able to find out why firsthand! I took on NYC last weekend and in 18 hours I became one of the biggest super tourists ever known to the Big Apple.

The day started early, 2:30 AM eastern time. I was to meet my new friend and travel buddy for the 4:15 train to NYC. Well, long story short, we opted not to take said train due to the horror movie plot setting at the train station. We then decided to drive…we will figure out the details when we get there. We gas up my little Yaris-that-Could, reroute the GPS, and off we go down the New Jersey turnpike. We were two girls with coffee, a shared backpack, and determination.

It was a quick drive, all things considered, and as soon as we saw the city on the horizon we instantly geeked out. We – okay mainly me – geeked out even more so when I realize we got to go through the Lincoln Tunnel. It’s just a tunnel, I get that, but for me it was exciting! So we pay our highway robbery of a toll, go through the tunnel and pop out on the other side in a neighborhood. Someone was leaving a parking spot, so we grabbed it…and by “grabbed it” I mean three parallel parking attempts later, we put the car in park. Free parking in NYC? Why not!

Here is where the adventures truly begin. It is now 6:30 and our first point of interest, Carlo’s Bakery – aka The Cake Boss – opens in half an hour. We book it over there and wait. These are my first moment in a city I have loved for the sake of loving it and I wanted to take it all in. I inhaled deeply and smelled urine…but what did I care?! It was New York urine!!! “I am finally here!” is all I could think. We partook in some awesome people watching until the bakery opened. Once we finished with our sugar breakfast and me applying makeup (I do what I want), we walked outside and picked a direction. “This way?” Sure!

This took us to the Avenues of America. We see “The Tonight Show” marquee…

and several banks, one of which so kindly informed us of our nation’s ongoing spending problem…

We round the corner and see Fox News…oh yes. They were broadcasting, which meant one thing – National Photo Bomb opportunity. We bounced around behind the hosts and hostess, waving, and travel buddy called her mom so we could verify our efforts. Yup! We did it! We photo bombed a live broadcast! Now they say the camera adds 10 lbs, so I am thinking at least 4 cameras are on me in this pictures, but who cares…

We then figured we should at least check a map so we don’t aimlessly wander our day way. We head to Times Square. Given the early hour, the streets were not that crowded. I absolutely love Times Square! I could stand there for hours and watch all the chaos. And that’s exactly what it is, chaos. Marque signs racing each other, people hustling and bustling, lights flashing, all of it, competition for your attention, yet all of it being equal parts white noise and distracting at the same time. For a person whose mind is a constant 100 mph, this location is like finding your tribe. If you can keep up in Times Square, you belong there.

Next was the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. Driving to this area, via cab ride, I knew I would struggle with the tour. September 11, 2001 was life altering for the nation I love and for myself. I put on my brave face though. We first toured Freedom Tower. The view is breathtaking, absolutely breathtaking! Our first sight from atop the Freedom Tower is none other than the love of my life, The Statue of Liberty. I will admit that I got teary eyed. I stood there for several moments just gazing at her. The landmark I waited my whole life to see, right there. It was a moment I will truly never forget.

We took several pictures and appreciated the beauty of the city for quite some time, but we had to keep moving.

We strolled through the memorial museum and I will say it was perfect. The tributes left to the victims of the horrid day are respectful, meaningful, and powerful. I will skip over this part of the day, because it is something you can only experience for yourself. If you ever find yourself in New York City, you owe it to the victims and yourself to take the tour. Trust me. United we stand, that’s all I can say.

Now it is 1:00pm and we are starving. While in NYC you have to have a vendor hot dog right? We do that and keep walking. We discuss our next area(s) of interest, formulate a plan, and go. But not without a Starbucks power charge, let’s be real!

We head out towards the Financial District. Just walking through the streets is amazing. The people, the sounds, the smells, the energy, its all so hard describe. We finally make it to Wall Street and Broadway.

We see the New York Stock Exchange, Trump Tower, and what I call The Mothership, Tiffany’s! I did bring a little blue box home with me, in case you are wondering!

But Tiffany’s wasn’t the point of us going through this area. We wanted to see the Charging Bull. We got a bit turned around trying to find the bull, but we found him…and I grabbed the bull by the balls. I am not remotely sorry 🙂

The day is quickly getting away from us, so we start really focusing on our to-do list. We are close to Battery Park and want to catch a ferry to see Lady Liberty. Well, we were not close to Battery Park and by the time we walked to what we thought was the park it was too late (and too hot!) in the day to backtrack. So the grandest adventure was about to take place…the subway.

We finally (and I do mean finally) figure out which train we need to get back to Times Square. We need “the 3.” So we get on the subway and its not bad at all! Then that changes by the next stop when the conductor announces that the 3 (I feel like such a local saying it!) say our train will be making extra stops to accommodate for the 2, which is down for repairs. By the end of the all the stops, we are more than “sardines in a can.” We are humans in steel tube, packed so closely together that I feel the phone of the guy next to me vibrating in his pocket.I figure this is perfect blog material so I get my phone out for a photo opportunity. I got some looks, as you can see below…

This was also prime selfie opportunity, so I take a quick selfie. Again, I do what I want, and I am super tourist!

We get to Times Square and decided on dinner. While we are at dinner we are reviewing our epic day, our achievements in tourism, and our overall awesomeness as females taking on a city of this proportions. We are so pleased with ourselves that we decide “why leave?! Let’s stay the night!” We throw around several ideas of what to do next, but since we are on Broadway at that exact moment, there was only one logical plan.

We make our way to one of the theaters and promptly ask about dress code. Sure, we got into Tiffany’s, but this different. We are classy ladies, but we are in shorts and flips per se, not theater attire. Once we get the all clear we decide on a show. Everything is sold out, but wait, there is a cancellation line! We take our pace in line (second in line) and this older lady quickly falls in line behind us. I don’t know if any of you reading have ever been in a cancellation line, but it is like white-collar Hunger Games. This lady was trying everything she could possibly think of to get us out of line. She’d even suggest going to the restroom before it got too late, checking the parking meter, checking other theaters, etc. Sorry, toots. We are on fire today and you can’t change that! And yes, we got tickets!

We got second row tickets for half price thanks to whoever decided to cancel last minute. I am sure the theater hates that, but we loved it! Now here is the fun part about this experience…we thought we were going to see “Wicked. “ Nope. I don’t know where the confusion was or what happened, but we saw a show called “Fun House.” Even though it wasn’t what we originally wanted to see, it was still amazing. The cast was spectacular and deserve the Tony Award they recently won…turns out we were watching award winning entertainment! Now, I am not a Broadway or musical buff by any means, but this was an excellent start to my Broadway experiences!

After the show – no clue if Hunger Games behind us got tickets or not, we assume she did – it was time for New York style pizza and another formulation of a plan.

We tried finding a hotel for the night. Ultimately, we decided the price wasn’t worth it and I was feeling awake at 1am enough to drive us back home. We made a pact that if I got too drowsy or anything that we would get a room at wherever we were. Not the safest idea, but we did it. And we made if home safely. It turned out to be 25-hour day for me and it was, hands down, the best day ever. Everything went our way and I have never felt like I have taken a city by storm quite like I did that day. It was my grandest adventure yet!

So there you have it, guys and gals! The Glitz Takes on NYC. Granted this post doesn’t begin to give the experience and adventures justice. For those who follow me on other social medias, I hope you enjoyed tagging along through my pictures and status updates! For those closest to me, thanks for your enthusiasm with my all my texts. All. Day. Long.